


The Angel Room: Makael Interviews Charlie Bradbury

by CatherineinNB



Series: The Angel Room [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cute, Dean Winchester (mentioned) - Freeform, Episode: s14e06 Optimism, Fluff, Gen, Jack Kline (mentioned) - Freeform, Mary Winchester (Mentioned) - Freeform, Sam Winchester (mentioned) - Freeform, Season/Series 14, Season/Series 14 Spoilers, castiel (mentioned) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 11:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16932741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatherineinNB/pseuds/CatherineinNB
Summary: Playing catch-up again: this interview takes place post "Optimism."Things are changing for Makael, a seraph who fled to our universe after the AU's Michael arrived in hers (see notes for updated context).Today she speaks to Charlie Bradbury, desperate for news about an ailing Jack Kline.





	The Angel Room: Makael Interviews Charlie Bradbury

**Author's Note:**

> **_The Context:_ **   
>  Everything is changing.
> 
> _ The Angel Room  _ started as a way for seraphim Makael, a refugee from the  _ Supernatural  _ universe, to keep track of events after Michael’s arrival from Apocalypse World. 
> 
> Makael has always been good at keeping to herself. It’s why she survived the intra-angel conflicts after the Great Fall. So it makes sense that when Michael arrived and started tracking down angels, Makael decided that it was time to find a new universe to call home. Using the spell that, years ago, propelled the Winchesters into an alternate universe, Makael was ready to make a new life for herself in ours. A quiet life. A human life, much like the one she had lived after the Fall. 
> 
> Then she discovered  _ Supernatural _ .
> 
> She told herself it was boredom, that it was curiosity, that it was about immersing herself the very human phenomenon of fandom, which prompted her to start pulling characters from  _ Supernatural _ into our universe for interviews after each new episode of Season 14 aired.
> 
> But now she’s realizing that it’s more than just interviews. It’s more than just about experiencing humanity through fandom. And it’s much, much more than simple curiosity. Makael is discovering that she  _ cares _ , which is a very disconcerting realization for an angel who’s always put self-preservation above all else. 
> 
> She worries about what’s happening to the people she’s interviewing. She’s preoccupied with their well-being and with their struggles. She cares about their survival.
> 
> Which, in her estimation, doesn’t bode well for her own.
> 
> What does this mean for  _ The Angel Room _ ? For Makael herself? As of yet, it’s all very unclear. The only thing that is clear?  _ Everything is changing. _
> 
> _ _
> 
> **_The Setting:_ **   
>  A modern room, equipped with low pile, beige carpet, is well appointed. Along one wall runs a line of bookcases; along the opposite wall sits a comfortable, poppy-red couch with clean lines. Facing the couch is a set of dark brown leather chairs, with deep seats. In between is a glass-topped coffee table.
> 
> Beyond the seating arrangement is a wall of glass windows. Situated in front of the windows, a desk is sparsely equipped with a laptop and office supplies. Two metal chairs sit in front of the desk, with an office chair behind it.
> 
> The windows overlook a charming downtown scene that might be in the oldest section of Boston, or any other city of that sort along the East Coast.
> 
> All is neat and spare to the point of near-painfulness. Only the few decorations that dot the space soften it: the neatly folded cream-and-white quilt slung over one arm of the couch, a piece of driftwood here, a decorative stone or a bird’s feather there.

**_The Interview:  
_ ** _ The sky is heavy and overcast, layers of cloud all scudding by in shades of iron grey.  _

_ Makael is impatiently pacing the length of the room, her faded, frayed jeans making a shushing sound in the silence as she does so. Her hair is pulled back in a sleek ponytail, and the navy blue t-shirt she is wearing is mostly hidden by the cream-colored cardigan she has wrapped snugly around herself. Her eyes continually return to the smoldering sigil on the wooden door as she paces, and every few seconds she mutters, “Come on, come on,” to herself.  _

_ Suddenly, the door pops open, and Charlie strides through, looking down at her tablet with a preoccupied expression on her face. _

**Charlie:** [ _looks up; comes to an abrupt halt as she takes in her surroundings_ ] What the— [ _fixes Makael with a suspicious look_ ] This is not my hotel room bathroom. [ _reaches for the small of her back, where, no doubt, a gun is hidden_ ]  
 **Makael:** [ _in a rush_ ] No. It’s not. I’m Makael, and I’ve pulled you into—  
 **Charlie:** —another universe to interview me about last week’s _Supernatural_ episode. Cool! Sam told me about you. [ _arches a brow as look becomes appraising_ ] He didn’t tell me you were cute, though.  
 **Makael:** Actually—  
 **Charlie:** I’ve gotta say, I’m kind of flattered. [ _quirks a quick smile in Makael’s direction; snaps shut tablet cover; adds, after consideration_ ] And not totally inconvenienced. I didn’t have to pee _that_ bad. So how does this work? I go sit over there? [ _gestures at leather chairs as she makes her way over to them; plops herself down before Makael can say anything_ ] Shoot, Feathers. You’ve got my undivided attention. [ _waits expectantly for Makael to take a seat_ ]  
 **Makael:** [ _perches herself on the edge of the sofa,_ sans _laptop_ ] I actually need to ask you about—  
 **Charlie:** —that musca? Weirdest monster _ever_ , right? Did you guys even know about them being for real? The angels, I mean. Gotta say, when I first heard that people were going missing outside of Memphis, a giant human-fly hybrid was _not_ what I was expecting.  
 **Makael:** We did, but that’s not what I—  
 **Charlie:** [ _apologetically_ ] Oh. Sorry about that—putting words in your mouth. I tend to be talkative. [ _hesitates; continues before Makael can interject_ ] Or, at least, I _used_ to be. Before the whole Apocalypse. Haven’t been for a while. But here I am, doing all the talking. I guess that means I’m … healing, or whatever. [ _thoughtfully]_ Huh. [ _refocuses on Makael; continues in a practical tone with a trace of humor_ ] I blame Sam.  
 **Makael:** [ _urgently_ ] Listen, I need to know—  
 **Charlie:** —am I going to retire? You guys saw that whole scene in the truck after we killed loner-musca-man, then? On our way back to where Sam had left his car? That’s … man. You think you’re having a whole private conversation—and, I mean, we were. Over there, anyway. [ _wrinkles nose_ ] Weird. Here … how many people are watching?  
 **Makael:** [ _momentarily diverted_ ] Uh, live? It’s been averaging about 1.4 million viewers this season. Of course, that doesn’t take into account all the different streaming platforms—  
 **Charlie:** [ _eyes widen_ ] No. Way. _One point four_ million people saw my post-vanquished-musca chat with Sam?  
 **Makael:** Yeah, but what we really need to talk about is—  
 **Charlie:** That’s so creepy. It’s like having 1.4 million stalkers. [ _a hint of a smile plays across her mouth; her eyes start to sparkle_ ] Pre-Apocalypse me? I would have _killed_ for that kind of following on YouTube. [ _pauses, abruptly sobering_ ] Do they actually care at all about _me_ , though? I’m … I’m not their Charlie. [ _adds quickly_ ] Not that my self-validation depends upon 1.4 million strangers caring about me, of course. But … do they?  
 **Makael:** Of course we—they— [ _takes a centering breath_ ] _we_ care. We know you’re not _our_ Charlie—this episode made that abundantly clear—but you’re _a_ Charlie, and I don’t think there’s a Charlie in existence in any universe that we _wouldn’t_ care about. [ _contemplatively_ ] The Leviathans may have been monstrosities thrown into and locked inside Purgatory by God himself, but they got it right about you: you—the core essence of who you are—have a spark, Charlie. You’re special. And it’s not just the Leviathans that see it. We all do.  
 **Charlie:** Oh. [ _flushes_ ] Well. I, uh … [ _looks away briefly_ ] Thanks! That, uh, that means a lot. [ _offers Makael a flustered smile_ ]  
 **Makael:** You’re welcome. But I’ve been trying to ask—  
 **Charlie:** [ _starts speaking at the same time as Makael_ ] I guess, then, I can answer the question everyone must be wanting to know—  
 **Makael:** [ _raises voice; says with a hint of desperation_ ] I’m sorry, I just—it’s not that—but, I really need to ask: have you heard anything about Jack?  
 **Charlie:** [ _taken aback_ ] Huh?  
 **Makael:** [ _repeats, with something akin to desperation_ ] Have you heard anything about Jack?  
 **Charlie:** What do you mean?  
 **Makael:** Have Sam and Dean been in touch about what’s going on about Jack? Please, it’s important.  
 **Charlie:**  [ _stares, then says seriously_ ] Sam and I talked about him while we were doing the whole stakeout thing. Did something happen on the case he and Dean were checking out?  
 **Makael:** No, no. That went fine. But Jack—he’s sick. He’s been coughing. I tried to tell Mary about it when she was here, but the sigil burned out before I could, and then the artifact that powers it was out of juice, and when it recharged enough for me to work the spell again, I tried to reach her at Donna’s cabin … [ _checks herself; explains_ ] She and Bobby are staying there for a while.  
 **Charlie:** Yeah, Sam was telling me about that.  
 **Makael:** Right, so the cabin is warded against angels, which means I haven’t been able to get in and I can’t pull her out. And for some reason she hasn’t left the cabin for _days_ … **  
Charlie:** [ _chokes back a laugh_ ] Yeah, for _some_ reason.  
 **Makael:** [ _blank look_ ]  
 **Charlie:** [ _sobers abruptly, murmurs_ ] Right. Not the point. [ _continues_ ] So, Jack’s got a cough? I don’t understand. Why are you so worried? Kids get coughs. He’s human now, right?  
 **Makael:** It’s more than a cough. It’s—he’s been coughing up blood, Charlie. Something is seriously, seriously wrong. [ _clenches fists_ ] When I couldn’t reach Mary, I tried to reach the others, but it’s the same with the Bunker: angel-proofed. They must’ve figured out a way to let Castiel in but keep everyone else out. Jack … he’s been sick for a while, and he was hiding how sick he is from the others. That’s what I was trying to tell Mary, and now he’s even worse. The end of the last episode … it scared me, and I was hoping you might have news about how he’s doing.  
 **Charlie:** [ _emphatically_ ] Shit.  
 **Makael:** You haven’t heard anything at all? Dean didn’t call before you dropped Sam off at his vehicle? They haven’t texted, or, you know, called and then hung up quickly, or … or anything? [ _leans forward as she speaks; her hunger for any kind of news is tangible_ ]  
 **Charlie:** I promise you, if I’d heard anything, I’d tell you. There’s been nothing. [ _takes a breath_ ] Okay, tell me everything that the audience over here has seen.  
 **Makael:** [ _collects herself_ ] The cough started a while ago. Castiel noticed early on, but he went to go make Jack soup, and Jack kept coughing, and there was blood on the kleenex afterward. He threw it in the garbage, and there were more in there: all of them bloody. I—I didn’t say anything at first—  
 **Charlie:** [ _raises brow_ s]  
 **Makael:** I know. I know. It was stupid, I was stupid, I just—I’ve never gotten involved before. Ever. And I thought I could do the same here—just be a reporter. Interview my subjects. And leave it at that. Good human reporters don’t get emotionally involved, right? [ _doesn’t wait for Charlie to answer; forges ahead_ ] But I was wrong. So I tried to tell Mary about Jack … [ _trails off, looking lost_ ]  
 **Charlie:** [ _with uncharacteristic_ _ _g_ entleness_] What exactly happened at the end of the last episode that scared you so much?  
 **Makael:** He and Dean were sitting in the kitchen in the Bunker, and they were talking about how well Jack did on the hunt, and Jack started coughing again, and then he just slumped sideways and collapsed. [ _with increasing urgency_ ] And he fell to the floor, and he was unconscious, and of course the one time Dean _would_ have wanted a bunch of people in the Bunker no one was there. [ _hesitates; returns to the same refrain, like a broken record_ ] You’re sure there hasn’t been anything—  
 **Charlie:** [ _grimly_ ] Yeah, I’m sure. Not a peep. [ _mutters_ ] As if they’re the only ones who have dibs on caring about the baby nephilim.  
 **Makael:** [ _looks at Charlie with a mixture of inquiry and ongoing worry_ ]  
 **Charlie:** [ _shrugs apologetically_ ] I don’t know him well, but all of us from back home? We care about Jack. He did so much over there. A lot of us wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him. It wasn’t even his fight, and he stepped in. Stepped up. As the kids say, I have mad respect.  
 **Makael:** [ _sits back in chair; looks defeated_ ] I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what’s going on. And since the most recent episode aired, none of them—Sam, Dean, Castiel—are leaving the Bunker at all. I just want to know if he’s okay.  
 **Charlie:** [ _with sudden understanding_ ] You’ve met him. Jack. That’s why you’re so worried.  
 **Makael:** Yes. [ _chews lower lip_ ] He was my second interview. He was so thoughtful, and gentle, and sweet. I kept thinking the whole time he was here that if God had stuck around, he’d be so proud. [ _blinks away sudden tears_ ]  
 **Charlie:** [ _sees the tears; becomes_ _wide-eyed_ ] Oh my God. [ _catches herself; explains_ ] I’ve just never seen an angel cry before. The ones back home were too busy, you know … murdering people. By the thousands.  
 **Makael:** [ _takes a breath, tries to compose herself_ ] I’d say that the angels in my universe were better than that, but, to be honest, most of us still suck hard. Jack, though? He’s the best of God’s two most-loved creations. He has the power and righteousness of an archangel, with the moral compass of a human being. [ _scoffs_ ] And to think, for millennia we were told by the higher-ups that nephilims were abominations that needed to be wiped from the face of Creation; that they stood against everything that God stood _for_. There were kill-squads dedicated to scouring the earth for them and smiting them from existence—on sight.  
 **Charlie:** Yeah? [ _scowls_ ] Angels, man. [ _remembers who she’s talking to_ ] I mean, you seem decent and all—  
 **Makael:** If I were _decent_ , I would have spoken up sooner.  
 **Charlie:** [ _practically_ ] Well, you’re speaking up now.  
 **Makael:** When it might be too late.  
 **Charlie:** [ _shakes head_ ] You can’t think that way. [ _frowns_ ] Look, I know that angels are … programmed differently, or whatever, than humans. You don’t think, don’t feel the way we do. And if there’s something I understand, it’s programming. So let me tell you something: programming is dependent upon the programmer. It’s not your fault that you are the way you are. Or that your programmer abandoned you without any … upgrades, or patches, or whatever, to help you adapt. What you _do_ in the face of all that? That's what counts. I think it’s admirable that you’re trying to change, to adapt on your own. That’s hard. You’re going to make mistakes as you do. But you’re trying.  
 **Makael:** [ _earnestly_ ] … Does trying now really matter if I could have helped Jack earlier, when it might have made a difference, and I didn’t?  
 **Charlie:** Yes. It does. [ _vehemently_ ] I know just how awful angels can be, Makael. And you’re not even remotely like the angels from my universe. You’re feeling. You’re trying. And in the end, all we can do is try our best.  
 **Makael:** [ _stares at Charlie with something like hope on her face_ ]  
 **Charlie:** Look, now that I know what’s going on, I’ll try to reach out to the boys, okay? And I’ll add my brain to trying to figuring out a solution to what’s going on with Jack.  
 **Makael** : [ _hope carrying through to her tone_ ] You have a very good brain.  
 **Charlie:** [ _huffs a laugh_ ] Thanks. And … if you check in with me, I promise I’ll update you with any news I hear.  
 **Makael:** Really?  
 **Charlie:** [ _smiles_ ] Yup.  
 **Makael:** [ _shoulders sag with relief_ ] Okay. Thank you. I will. Check in, I mean. Thank you so much, Charlie.  
 **Charlie:** [ _smile tips up higher a fraction of an inch on one side_ ] My pleasure, Feathers. [ _straightens_ ] So, hey—I think I just survived my first trip to _The Angel Room_.  
 **Makael:** The what?  
 **Charlie:** _The Angel Room?_ That’s what Sam’s calling this whole deal. Like, you know, _The Situation Room_ on CNN. But with an angel instead of Wolf Blitzer. [ _with mock relief_ ] Thank God. You are so much cuter than Wolf Blitzer.  
 **Makael:** [ _mouths, as if tasting the words_ ] _The Angel Room._ [ _out loud_ ] Huh. [ _eyes flicker to the door; jumps up abruptly_ ] Oh. Oh, you need to go. Right now. The sigil’s almost out. [ _grabs a startled Charlie by forearm and drags her to the door, throwing it open_ ] Thank you. [ _with intense sincerity_ ] I can’t thank you enough.  
 **Charlie:** [ _as her_ _startlement shifts into something mischievous_ ] Mm. Well, thank me by not being a stranger. [ _reaches forward and pushes back a strand of hair that has come loose from Makael’s ponytail_ ]  
 **Makael:** [ _looks confused, tilts head inquiringly_ ] I plan on checking in regularly, of course—so that I can get updates on Jack.  
 **Charlie:** [ _grins_ ] Yeah, we’re gonna have to see if I can get you some flirtation patches for that angel programming of yours. [ _grabs door handle_ ] Bye, Feathers. [ _pulls door shut behind her, leaving Makael alone in the room_ ]  
 **Makael:** [ _perplexed_ ] … flirtation patches?  
  
 **END SCENE.**


End file.
